Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is a treatment method for cancer patients requiring radiation treatment. IMRT is an extremely precise method of treatment delivery where the radiation dose conforms to the target and avoids the surrounding critical structures. Rather than having a single large radiation beam pass through the body, with IMRT the treatment is delivered from various angles and the intensity of the radiation beam is varied across the treatment area.
The radiation is effectively broken up into thousands of tiny pencil-thin radiation beams. With millimeter accuracy, these beams enter the body from many angles and intersect on the cancer. This results in a high radiation dosage to the tumor and a lower radiation dose to the surrounding healthy tissues.
One method for modulating the intensity of the radiation beam is based on the use of a radiation filter, which is also known as a compensator. Each radiation filter is specifically designed for a patient.
A patient specific radiation filter is machined from a solid piece of material, which is also referred to as a radiation filter blank. Each radiation filter is mounted to the radiation therapy machine so that it is directly in the path of the radiation beam generated by the machine. The unique three-dimensional geometry of each machined radiation filter provides the conformal radiation dose distributions required by the cancer patient.
Since each patient specific radiation filter is individually machined from a radiation filter blank, it cannot be reused on other cancer patients. The radiation filter may be machined in-house by a radiation treatment center, or alternatively, ordered from an outside machine shop. The outside machine shop will also be referred to herein as the supplier.
Once an order is received by an outside machine shop, a number of information related tasks need to be performed before a radiation filter blank is actually machined into a radiation filter. For example, modeling and programming functions need to be determined. In addition, for each radiation filter machined, it needs to be properly labeled and verified for accuracy. Consequently, each order for a radiation filter requires a considerable amount of employee intervention before the filter is actually packaged and shipped.
One example of reducing the amount of employee intervention for an outside machine shop providing a patient specific radiation filter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,80,871. The '871 patent is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, and is assigned to the current assignee of the present invention. The '871 patent discloses a method for providing a patient specific radiation filter for a radiation treatment machine based on receiving via e-mail design data for the radiation filter, and comparing the received design data to a radiation filter blank database for selecting a radiation filter blank compatible with the radiation treatment machine from a plurality of radiation filter blanks. The method further includes defining tooling instructions for the selected radiation filter blank, and programming a tooling machine based upon the defined tooling instructions. The programmed tooling machine is operated for machining the selected radiation filter blank into the radiation filter. While the '871 patent offers improvements in providing patient specific radiation filters, there is still a need to further improve the process.